The foliage is beautiful, but the garden is getting sleepy, very sleepy. We’ve had temps in the 20’s at night with snow flurries a little north of here. Killington ski area in Vermont is open with man-made snow. It’s getting close, really close to winter up here, friends.
Last week I did get the two small beds planted where we took out two raised bed planters. I put in pink Knockout roses, Sedum Sebaldii and Autumn Joy, Geranium sanguine, Coreopsis Red Satin, Raspberry Truffle Coneflowers, Silver Mound, Carnival Candy Apple Heuchera, and Catmint – I don’t plan to weed that area. 🙂
I mulched everything, but this time of year, I also get a lot of pine needle mulch deposited by Mother Nature. Now, I wait for 2016 to see what survives the winter and how my stock tank veggie gardens work.
I also wrapped six blueberry bushes in burlap because my neighbor is planning to feed the deer again this winter. I tried convincing her not to, but I wasn’t successful. So, burlap and row cover, Milorganite, and Nite Guard will be my plan of defense.
Saturday I picked up my king sized quilt from the long arm quilter. It was the easiest check I ever wrote, and I don’t think I lost the smile on my face for 24 hours.
Sunday I went to the local guild quilt show and was again amazed at the artistry both in the tops and the long arm quilting.
I just finished two doll quilts and two mug rugs, a couple of items for Halloween for my granddaughter, and then I need to get to work on the binding for the king sized quilt. Once I get the binding pieces sewn together, do you have any guesses how long it will take me to machine sew the front and then hand stitch the back with about 425″ of binding? 🙂
So, what’s keeping you busy this third week in October?
NewEnglandGardenAndThread 
The foliage is beautiful and those quilts are amazing. I can’t even imagine how long your quilting job will take but hope it’s something you love to do.
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That quilt show was sensory overload for a novice like myself. Loved looking at every one. I do like to sew binding on but have never tackled anything this large. I’ll probably get tired of sitting in one position. 🙂
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Love the fall colors and the quilts! With as much love and work you put into your garden I’m sure it will be beautiful next year!
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Foliage in your area is stunning, but pale in comparison to your gorgeous quilts!! You are one talented gal not to mention a hard-working one. At least with the quilting you won’t need ice packs!!! 😜
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I need to amp up my skills to compete with the ladies who produced those quilts for the Guild show. But thank you for thinking I might have made them – spurs me on. 🙂
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Your quilts are beautiful and your gardens are great. Wish I had half that talent.
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I wish those were my quilts but they were the wonderful submissions of the Cocheco Quilt Guild members. 🙂 I did love looking at them and dreaming.
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Home improvement projects for the last 9 days. Still working. But I’ve enjoyed it.
On Friday, Moo and I finished getting the mums planted and we added 35 spring bulbs to the yard. We left 5 daffodils out to force inside when winter seems to drag on.
Really enjoying the perfect weather.
I can gawk at quilts all day long, so I can imagine your smile 🙂
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You have been busy and I can imagine how pretty your yard looks now and then will again in the spring. Oh, I love to look at quilts that is for sure. 🙂
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Foliage is gorgeous and so are your creations!
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I wish those were mine. 🙂 Can you imagine the round one was intended to be a tree skirt, but when she was finished she couldn’t cut it open? Gorgeous.
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Wow, you have been busy. The fall colors are beautiful. Our trees seem late in turning this year, but we are seeing nice colors. The quilts are beautiful, simply beautiful. I am impressed with your talent Judy.
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I wish those were my projects but they were photos from the guild show and those ladies can really produce some beautiful quilts. I’ll post a photo of mine when I get the binding done. 🙂
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I guess I moved through this too fast. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be equally amazed at your work.
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beautiful
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All I can say about those quilts is “wow”. All those tiny pieces cut exactly and put together in such beautiful combinations. Who could not be happy looking at them?
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There were so many on view to enjoy it was like an eye candy store for people who admire quilting or sewing skills. 🙂
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Oh are the colors of Fall magnificent or what? I wish I could hike all day long;0) I guess you looked at the flurries somewhat with dismay??? The quilts look fantastic, I love that round one. It is nice to be so busy in Fall, I enjoy my knitting and drawing always a bit more ;0) xo Johanna
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Lucky you with the fabulous foliage. This is the year of the “dead leaf tour” in our neck of the woods, as many trees have lost their foliage due to the extremely dry summer. Love those quilts! And good luck with the new plants. Have you ever tried Rosa ‘Carefree Beauty’? It’s my favorite disease resistant rose and more beautiful, I think, than the Knockouts.
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Heading over to google to check your suggestion out. Thank you very much
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Gorgeous quilts! I’ve done really well with Champlaigne roses in our cold zones. The knockouts always thrive and I noticed they come in yellow now too. Too bad your neighbor feeds the deer…guessing that makes your gardens part of their feeding trail. Ugh. Beautiful fall post!!
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Yellow Knockouts – now I’m on the trail to check them out as well as your Champlaigne roses. 🙂 Yes, my garden beds become the salad bar on the way to the dry feed, and it is a big UGH.
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The colors of New England fall still take my breath away…and they are captured beautifully in those quilts. Your garden looks lovely. Maybe you can plant some blueberries in the neighbor’s yard for the deer to eat! Try to stay busy..LOL!
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Gorgeous photos of everything! The quilt colors mirror the array of autumn trees; it was fun to see them paired. You HAVE been industrious, and I hope your new xeriscape beds weather the winter. I smiled at your burlap shrubs (cringed at your thoughtless neighbor) because I thought those were some kind of artsy statues in the background and was hoping for an explanation and closeup.
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Thank you for the chuckle. 🙂 When I was trying to talk the neighbor out of feeding the deer, I explained I was going to have to wrap the blueberries up and she’d have to look at the covers for the next six months, see a couple more Nite Guards blinking and possibly smell some stinky fertilizer but she couldn’t be swayed. 🙂 She fed an entire herd last year – they were everywhere including two in the road that were hit by cars.
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The colors in the maple leaf quilt echo the rich hues of the foliage in your area. Quilt shows are fun for inspiration. You’ve been busy with your own projects indoors and out. I can’t imagine people feeding deer. It’s not encouraged here, either, but people do it. Hope the garden survives.
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Such beautiful quilts! I especially love the round one, glad she didn’t slice through it. I’ve just posted foliage pics, too–awesome color this year!
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Judy, love your posts, all of them. I am a quilter and a gardener. We recently moved to a 5000′ elevation in Northern CA, not much snow the last two years but very low temps. As low as -17 our first winter. My question is this…do I cut perennials down before I mulch or do I cover with mulch and then wait until new growth starts in the Spring? We cannot depend on heavy snowfall here for insulation so I have been using straw along with pine needles. What did you mulch your new plantings with? Love all your photos and congrats on finishing the quilt. Binding is one of my favorite things to do. Enjoy the day, Judy
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Thank you for stopping and the comment. I have cut them back in the fall and in the spring. I’ve also read that if you leave them until spring it is good for the plant. My challenge is I have too many beds, and if I leave them all until spring it takes too long to clean all the beds. So, I usually take out all the tall ones like phlox, grasses, coneflowers, etc. so they don’t get buried under the snow while I leave all the hosta and low to the ground plants that are easier to rake out. For mulch, again because I have too many beds, I use wood chips that I get by the trailer load. But, I do have this one neighbor with giant pines and I rake up all those pine needles and just pile them on top of the chips. 🙂 I like binding too. Although, it took me 45 minutes to sew the binding on, I’ve got 4 hours so far in on the hand sewing at about 1/3 of the way around. 🙂
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The fall colors are fabulous! But those quilts… Spectacular!
As for me we went up into the high country to see if the Aspens have started to turn and they have! It was lovely!
And your gardens will be missed over the winter. But their wake up will be lovely.
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Such lovely colours of your autumn. And beautiful quilts. My MIL is visiting us here in Tasmania and is hand stitching one of her current quilt projects. I’m busy knitting socks 🙂
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Two skilled women in one room. You can probably feel the vibes. 🙂 Maybe you could trade her a nice warm pair of socks for her quilt project – that way you’d share the creativity. 🙂
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Wow, gorgeous foliage shots, Judy. Your new bed is looking good! Never heard of using a stock tank, but it’s a clever idea. Will be curious to see what you grow there. And those quilts are so beautiful – works of art. My favorite is the star – it’s stunning!
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To answer your question, nothing’s been keeping me as busy as you are! Go girl!
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I’ll bet that is because you are chasing munchkins around. 🙂
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Why would anyone feed deer? I can just imagine the damage they do to your plants. I used to live in a much more rural area and each Fall deer would eat all my perennials.
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I look out and can see 6-12 up on her patio eating away, and, of course, on the way back they stop for salad in the yard. Drives me crazy.
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Crazy!! My former neighbor would clear snow from their lawn to give the deer some open area.
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Your photos of the leaves are so beautiful. Grampy loved them, too. I can’t wait so see your finished quilt!
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We can see Mount Mansfield across the lake and it is snow-covered, too! The transition is coming too soon for my taste! Your foliage shots are gorgeous and I’m so glad you got to the quilt show–inspiration for winter projects!
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You used the “s” word. LOL I’m really not ready to shovel but here it comes anyway. 🙂
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I am stunned that your neighbor feeds deer. Aside from the fact that they are garden pests and spread disease-carrying ticks, it desensitizes the deer to the danger of people. Makes them easier targets for hunters and more likely to be hit by cars. Maybe you can use that issue as a persuasive technique if you haven’t already tried. I hope your neighbor is extra-charming in other ways to make up for her deer delusion.
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I will try to stop laughing so I can answer. 🙂 I tried all those tactics especially reminding her of the two that were hit by cars right in front of our mailbox and the 12 that died in a neighboring town but no success. She is a very unique, strong willed individual who feels she took their land and needs to repay them. I even tried reminding her we have acres of wetlands behind both of us where they can happily live, but…
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Now I’m the one laughing. Maybe you could invite her over for a little venison pie. Has she invited all of the Native Americans in the area to reside in her extra bedrooms since she took their land too?
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Oh my gosh, that was the best laugh I’ve had all day. She does have a big house with extra rooms so the next time I see her, which will probably be a year from now, I’ll have to ask her. Thank you for the chuckle because it was a good one. 🙂
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New England, particularly in fall, has such a charm seen nowhere else on the planet! You capture the best of it. No wonder tourists come in droves! I really enjoyed seeing the quilts, but I’m waiting to see how yours turned out after its long arm finish. You showed us the unquilted top, but there is nothing like one bound and ready to snuggle under. Your daughter is going to love it!
And I’ve been educated about feeding deer today. I would have been one of the feeders until I read the comment about how they lose their fear of people and become vulnerable to hunters.
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It is a pretty time of year up here. I do laugh when we have to rake/sweep them all up because somehow their beauty doesn’t carry over to the clean up period. 🙂
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Those quilts are beautiful!! Quilts just make me feel happy 🙂 and did I read that correctly…Killington is open? That’s just wrong!
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Yes, it was on our news over the weekend. It blew me away. 🙂
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Lovely foliage and how neat and perfect all of outdoor work is! Those quilts are beautiful. Some people love the binding stage…I don’t. So I know it would take ME awhile, ha ha! I just push for two lengths of thread a day when I have to do it and eventually I get to the end.
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I like binding, and the machine portion took about 45 minutes because it was nice and flat from the all over quilting. So far, I have a little over 6 hours in the hand sewing. 🙂
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Reading three books (simultaneously) and writing poetry.
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I hope the three books are the kind you can’t put down and the poetry flows easily. Enjoy. 🙂
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